Clash of the also rans

Round 15 of the SPL, and there was no question which fixture grabbed the attention: the Hearts v Rangers clash at Tynecastle. But it was not for the reasons they would have liked.

At the beginning of the season, many people thought this match would have been a battle between two potential champions. Hearts had lost 2 big players over the summer and not really replaced them, but after finishing as runners up and winning the Scottish Cup last year, their supporters believed things would just keep on improving. Meanwhile, Paul Le Guen was appointed as the messiah who would revive Rangers and bring trophies back to Ibrox.

How wrong things have gone since then. Not only are Celtic miles ahead of the sorry pair of them, they can't even put distance between themselves and the chasing pack... at kick off, Aberdeen were 2nd in the table, courtesy of their victory over St Mirren the previous day. Yes, broke, success-is-but-a-distant-memory Aberdeen. There's not so much a big 3 at the moment, as a... One.

So, this fixture was compelling not because these clubs are doing so well, but because they are doing so badly. The ongoing crises at Tynecastle and Ibrox have provided the stories of the season so far in the SPL, and are both inexplicable, in their way. On the one hand, you have Vladimir Romanov, a riddle wrapped in an enigma inside a puzzle, or whatever it was Churchill said about the Russians; a man who has claimed a grand vision for his club, but has a very strange way of trying to achieve it. Then, you have Paul Le Guen, recognised as one of the most talented coaches in Europe, who not only has failed to improve Rangers, but made them worse.

As it was, Rangers won the match, with a late goal from Nacho Novo. The wee Spanish forward is one of the few success stories for Rangers this season - all but ignored by Alex McLeish, he is playing more regularly now under the new gaffer, and scoring goals again. Barry Ferguson had one of his better games in recent times, too.

So Rangers have jumped above the Dons into second place, but time will tell whether their nightmare is over. They only beat Hearts, after all, in a poor game between two teams in poor form. The club have been heavily engaged in the darks arts of PR over the past week or so, firstly issuing a statement of confidence in the manager, and then throwing their beleaguered supporters some titbits, by leaking news of an imminent bid for a Hibernian midfielder or two. But, just because the Glasgow papers might lap it up, doesn't make it so. It is not the chairman's opinion of Le Guen that really matters, but the fans', and only a continued sequence of wins will appease them. And unless David Murray digs into his own pocket, there won't be any money for new players in January - certainly not Kevin Thomson or Scott Brown.

The best PR savvy in the world couldn't spin the Hearts story in a positive light at the moment, because the outlook is bleak. They have now gone 7 games without a win, and - like Rangers - desperately need to conjure a run of results from somewhere. But they seem utterly incapable of doing so.

It was hardly surprising they lost. The build up to the game had been dominated by speculation over whether Craig Gordon would play - or would he too be dropped, like the other members of the "Riccarton Three". In the end, he did, as did Paul Hartley, but it was hardly ideal preparation. Handing the captain's armband to Hartley on Sunday might have been seen as an attempt to heal a rift, except that Pressley is still excluded.

It was Edouard Malofeev's last game in charge, as he has now left to get his UEFA coaching badge - at the age of 64! If he waited a year, he could retire to Sochi instead. Eugenijus Riabovas was supposed to be taking over, but the BBC is now claiming he isn't after all. Meanwhile, the assistant John McGlynn, the only constant in the coaching staff over the past 2 years, and caretaker manager twice, is seemingly leaving to become the boss at 2nd Division Raith Rovers. So Hearts are currently directionless.

Bizarrely, given his hands-on management style, Vladimir Romanov wasn't in the country at the weekend, but is expected in Scotland this week. He's got plenty to keep him busy - Hartley has asked for a chat, and he will need to deal with the fall-out from the match, after director Alex Koslovski accused the fans of booing some players just because they were Lithuanian, and a group of 200 or so supporters held a protest after the game.

So, Rangers and Aberdeen are now on 25 points, with Hearts on 22 with Kilmarnock and Hibs. It is hardly where these two big spenders thought they would be at this stage of the season.

Motherwell 1-6 Hibernian
Aberdeen 2-0 St Mirren
Celtic 3-0 St Mirren
Dunfermline 2-1 Dundee Utd
Kimarnock 2-1 Falkirk
Hearts 0-1 Rangers